


Found Family

by eerian_sadow



Series: Bedroom Toys [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Found Family, Gen, Mentions of Character Death, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:07:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22383802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: Bumblebee and Cliffjumper ended up living in the under levels the usual way: the money was gone. The way they ended up at Lucky Thirteen was much more traumatic.
Relationships: Jazz/Kup
Series: Bedroom Toys [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/579661
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

Mirage barely noticed as the night was interrupted by a commotion in a nearby alley. Noises like that were common, and if he let himself jump at every sound he would never pull in clients.

The running footsteps, on the other hand, were out of the ordinary enough to attract his attention. 

He was turning toward the source of the sound when he heard an angry shout and a pained scream. A moment later, a small yellow mech crashed into him.

“Please! Please you have to help me!” The yellow mech wrapped his arms around Mirage and clung as if his life depended on it. “Please! He's going to kill me like he killed Lyric!”

Mirage frowned and looked back the direction the small mech had come from. He wanted the whole story eventually, but the mech was too obviously distraught to be lying. He needed a hiding place, quickly. 

Another angry shout reinforced just _how_ quickly. 

“Come on. Follow me.” Mirage extracted himself from the yellow mechs grip as much as he could and began walking briskly toward Lucky Thirteen. The yellow mech transferred his grip to the blue mech’s hand and refrained from running as Mirage led him home.

Sideswipe was standing at the door when they approached. “Cover charge is five credits, even for your guests, babe.”

“Darling, he is not here for the show.” Mirage continued to the door. “There is a mech following him who has just murmured his friend. We are going to hide him upstairs.” 

The red mech blinked. “Yeah, all right. Take him up and take care of him. Lugnut and I will keep this creep far away.”

“I knew I could count on you.” The blue mech flashed his lover a smile before tugging his charge inside.

The yellow mech’s hand trembled in his as the blue mech led him into the club. “You can't! He'll hurt everyone!”

“He will not. Sideswipe and Lugnut will keep us safe, as promised. Now, follow straight across the main room to the stairs.” Mirage squeezed the trembling hand as they stepped out of the entry hall and into the club.

The yellow mech flinched as sound assaulted them, but didn't let go of his benefactor’s hand. 

Mirage wove through the crowd with practiced ease, though it was easier than normal with most everyone focusing on the dance troupe on stage. They reached the stairs quickly and the blue mech began climbing with a wave to Jazz at the bar.

The black and white mech would want to know what was going on, but Mirage wanted the whole story before telling his friend anything. 

They passed Flareup and Freeway as they reached the second floor, but neither of the loungeflies said anything beyond a greeting. Mirage was glad for their restraint--Flareup always wanted to talk when he didn't--because he wasn't sure the yellow mech could handle it.

“We’re almost there.” The blue mech squeezed the other’s hand again. “My room is at the end of the hall.”

“N-not close to the stairs?” Somehow, the small mech kept most of his fear out of the question. Mirage was impressed at his control, even though he knew it would slip soon.

The yellow mech’s hand was shaking hard enough to clink softly against his own.

“No. But we are close to the fire escape if we have to make a quick getaway.” The taller mech walked a bit more quickly, hoping to be in the privacy of his room before the small mech broke down. “Not that we will need to. Sideswipe and Lugnut are former soldiers and they will take the best care of us possible.”

“O-okay.” The shorter mech tugged his hand out of Mirage’s when they stopped in front of the door and hugged himself tightly. 

“Come inside with me, friend. We are _safe_ here.” The blue mech keyed in his code and unlocked the door. It slid open quietly enough for the sound to be drowned out in the noise filtering up from the first floor.

“I'm just… after seeing that, it's hard to believe.”

“I know.” Mirage put his hand on one of the small mech’s shoulders. The yellow mech let him nudge him inside. Once they had both cleared the door, it slid closed behind them and blanketed the room in silence. “Now that we've got some peace and quiet, perhaps we should continue by introducing ourselves. I am Mirage.”

“Bumblebee.” The yellow mech’s shivering finally spread to his entire body, rattling his plating. “Oh, Primus, what do I do now?”

“Talk about it, if you can.” Mirage knelt down and wrapped Bumblebee in a hug. “Fuel and recharge if you can't. We can figure out the rest in the morning.”

Bumblebee nodded slowly. “I have a little brother. Our parents died in an accident at the energon refinery about an orbital cycle ago and I've had to take care of him since. We were okay until the beginning of the meta-cycle, but my maintenance team was downsized. We lost everything but the holos in our subspace.”

Mirage tightened his hug at the memory of how hopeless that felt, but he didn't interrupt the other mech's story.

“I met Lyric a few days ago. He said he'd let us join his “family” if I learned a skill that would earn our keep. I didn't really want to, but Cliffjumper was hungry and we hadn't had a decent recharge in days. He was… he was teaching me to pick subspace pockets.” Bumblebee shuddered and buried his face against Mirage’s chest plates. “He was usually good at picking out easy marks, but the last mech… Lyric didn't have a chance when he noticed us. When our mark crushed his head, I just ran.”

“A good decision. You cannot care for your brother if you are deactivated.” The blue mech rubbed the small mech’s back gently. “One of my colleagues can pick up your brother, so that you will both be safe here.”

“What? No! He might still be out there!”

“And if he is looking for anyone, it will be a yellow minibot and not a prostitute with a youngling.”

“You’re… you're probably right. I'm still not used to having to think like that.” Bumblebee’s voice was soft and he sounded suddenly weary. “Can I ping you the address and you send whoever you trust most?”

“Of course.” Mirage switched on his receiver and waited for the other mech’s data burst. Once it arrived, he pulled away from his hug to look the yellow mech over. “You look exhausted, Bumblebee. Perhaps you should rest while I make the pickup arrangements for your brother.”

“I can't. I have to be awake when he gets here.”

“Energon at the very least, then.” The blue mech stood up and moved to the small storage cabinet over his berth. He pulled out a cube and turned to extend it to the yellow mech. 

Bumblebee shook his head. “You've already done too much. I can't take your fuel too.”

“You can. I have plenty.” Mirage stepped back to the smaller mech and took one of his hands. He pressed the cube firmly into it. “Drink, and do not worry about the cost.”

“T-Thank you.” The yellow mech clutched the cube tightly.

“You are welcome.” Mirage smiled gently. “everything will be all right. Feel free to read my literature files or use my berth if you decide to rest after all. I am going to speak with my colleagues so that we can pick up Cliffjumper before he has time to miss you.”


	2. Chapter 2

“BUMBLEBEE!” Jazz winced as the red youngling shrieked happily at seeing his brother. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too, Jumper.” Bumblebee crossed the empty lounge to the visored mech and the younger minibot. “Thanks for rescuing him.”

“No problem.” Jazz smiled and lowered Cliffjumper to the ground. “Sorry if we worried you being gone so long. There were a few other younglings in there who didn’t have family to go home to, so we hung around til some of Strika’s people could pick them up.”

The yellow mech stepped forward and pulled his brother into a hug. “Strika is the local gang lord, right?”

“Professional criminal organization,” Jazz corrected with a grin. “They're very organized and she runs a tight ship. If some of what she moves was a little more legal, she'd have an office in upper Iacon.”

“What's she going to do with a bunch of younglings?”

“Raise them. Teach them the family business. Trust me, it's better than the foster system.”

Bumblebee looked down Cliffjumper and nodded. “Yeah. I've heard stories.”

“It's as bad as anyone ever told you, and sometimes worse. I'd sell myself to Sentinel Prime to keep a youngling out of it.” Jazz shook his head, using the action to force himself to clear his thoughts. “Right, enough of that. Raj wanted me to give you a mock interview while they're cleaning out your new room.”

“My room? What?”


	3. Chapter 3

“Cliffjumper, what are you doing?” Bumblebee did his best not to shout at the young mech, despite having _panicked_ when he woke up and couldn’t find his brother in the room Jazz was letting them recharge in.

Cliffjumper kicked his feet against the bar stool happily and grinned at his older brother. “Drinking a shake! Jazz made it!”

“He wasn’t a bother,” Jazz added, standing up from behind the bar. “He came out when Flareup came down for her energon and helped me wash up the last of the dishes from last night.”

The yellow mech sighed with relief. At least Cliffjumper had been earning the energon in his hand, instead of getting them into a debt he couldn’t repay. “He still scared me when I woke up alone. He’s supposed to wake me up, if he comes online first.”

Jazz nodded. “I imagine that helped keep you both safe out there. And if you wanna keep that rule, that's between the two of you. I just want you to know that ain’t none of us here that’ll let the bit get hurt. Long as we’re not open for business, he’s safe in any of these rooms.”

“Yeah, I guess. But it’s not just about that.” 

“Explain it for me, then. That way I know how to make you feel better about all of this.”

“I can’t just make all of you my sparklingsitters while I go look for steady work or find some other gang to sign up with.” Bumblebee's shoulders slumped. “And I can’t pay for the room or the energon or--or anything.”

“First, you ain’t gotta ask us to sparklingsit. Flareup’s already offered to watch him whenever you need.” Jazz smiled. “She took a shine to him right away. And we can worry about the money when you have some. Just ask Mirage; I ain’t in the habit of kicking a mech when he’s down.”

“Jazz said we can stay as long as we need to,” Cliffjumper added. “I like him. He’s nicer than Lyric.”

“That’s really nice of him,” the yellow mech agreed with his brother. “But we can’t just take his charity forever.”

“Right!” The youngling grinned. “We gotta do our share and not be cyber leeches!”

“That’s right.” Bumblebee managed to return the young mech’s smile, even though dread was sinking into his tank. “So that’s where we are, you see?”

“I see.” The visored mech nodded. “Sit down, mech. I’ll whip you up a drink and you can fuel up while I extend a business proposition.”

“I’m not selling…” The minibot cut himself off with a sigh before climbing onto the stool next to his brother. “I guess I could, if it meant Jumper would have enough fuel to make it to adulthood.”

“You can, if that’s what you want.” Jazz poured a packet of minerals into a cocktail shaker and added a cube of energon. “But I was hoping for something a little less adventurous. Though the tips ain’t as good.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m the only bartender we’ve got, since Slipstream walked out. Means I’m not out there dancing, and the revenue stream has taken a hit. If you can mix a drink, you’ve got a job.” The black and white mech capped the shaker and sloshed it gently. “That mock interview we did to help you job hunt last night was a little more real than I let on.”

“I’ve never learned to make anything special.” Bumblebee blinked several times. “Just really basic cocktails for a graduation party and not much else. I don’t… I don’t know if I’d be a good fit.”

Jazz opened the shaker back up and poured the contents into a cup. “I apologize for the quality here, First Aid--he's the medic at the clinic a few streets over--said I should make sure you have extra minerals for the next few days since you’ve been living rough. And you can come shadow me tonight. Pay attention, learn to make the crowd favorites if you think you can do it. If not, I know a mech who always knows someone who needs a laborer.”

Bumblebee took a sip after the visored mech handed him the cup and shrugged. “It’s a little bitter, but it’s fine. And I guess I can do that. It’s a lot better than scrubbing waste vents. Would it be a long term position?”

“As long as you need or want to stay, Bee. You and Cliffjumper are part of the family now


End file.
